


All that you can't leave behind

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Coulson loves Skye, F/M, Inhumans (Marvel), Kids on missions, Mike wanting to be a father, Pets, Skye and Coulson as BFFs and more, Skye loves Coulson, Speculation, Superpowers, parenting, talking dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 02:51:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3793915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I just wanted to write a fic with Skoulson as parental figures, rescuing gifteds from HYDRA, and how it would naturally lead to them seeing themselves as something more than just friends.  And something cute for hamsterfactor's birthday and then it got out of control and I created an original character which I don't ever do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All that you can't leave behind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hamsterfactor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hamsterfactor/gifts).



Amari wouldn't leave without his dog.

Coulson had rolled his eyes as the kid pleaded with him to go back into the house, Skye smiling a little as he gave her the go ahead before heading in again, gun gripped in his fist.

The walls were riddled with bullets from the earlier firefight. It should be clear. That's what the team had said after that last sweep.

The boy said he had shut the dog up in the back bedroom. So the men wouldn't shoot him.

T.H., the dog, was okay when Coulson found him, backed into a corner of the room. But he was really won over when he bared his fangs and bit into a HYDRA agent still hanging behind, hiding out, trying to get the drop on him.

Coulson was happy to shoot anyone HYDRA, and the dog seemed trusting enough at the gesture.

When he opened the door, he bounded past him headed for Amari, he guessed.

His red-brown tail wagging all over when Coulson stepped out into the front yard, he watched Amari look so happy with his arms around the dog's neck.

Then his eyes met Skye's.

They looked as dancing and bright as T.H. seemed to feel.

Once they were back at the base, he left Skye to show Amari around, and sat down in the commons, handed a beer Hunter always somehow had ready like clockwork after one of these missions.

A mini celebration of sorts. Another gifted snatched out from under HYDRA's nose.

T.H. was there, darting around between the team members, greeting each one of them in turn.

He stopped and sat, tilting his head at Coulson, like he was asking a question.

Hunter suggested that T.H. understood him like he did Amari, and that the base could use a mascot.

"Don't let T.H. steal your thunder, Lance," Coulson replied, taking a swig as the man scowled at him.

T.H. glanced over at Hunter, waiting for him to reply, but he just huffed and sunk further down in his new favorite chair.

Skye had been gone for awhile. Must be excited to have someone so young around. The youngest yet of all the gifteds they'd rescued.

And someone with so much in common.

In and out of foster homes, just like Skye. It was almost always the case with gifteds. Like they had been planted all over the globe.

For a purpose.

"T.H.!"

The voice called out, behind them, and he craned his neck to see Skye patting her thighs as the dog ran to greet her.

"Where's Amari?" Hunter blurted.

"I tucked him in," she said, sweetness in her voice (not her usual response to anything Hunter had to say), as she kneeled and ruffled the dog's fur.

"Aww, that's so cute," Hunter replied. "Mommy Skye."

Coulson stared back at him, watching him. Noting the entire lack of sarcasm in that statement.

"Amari won't go to sleep without T.H.," she added, letting them know her real reason for being here.

He got up out of his chair and set his half-empty beer down on the coffee table.

"I'll go with you," he said, walking towards her and looking at the dog wagging its tail furiously. He put his hand out and felt the cold nose press into his palm.

Skye silently regarded him and stood up, as they both headed down the hall together with T.H. running ahead.

  
#

  
When things were still _strictly_ SHIELD SHIELD, he would have never stayed up this late talking.

Certainly not alone with her. Protocols and all that.

The enormous backlog of work they shared maybe even justified it.  Just...there was nothing in the way now; no levels, barely an organization left.

More like a team. Much like the tiny team they'd had together on the Bus when she first met him.

The old SHIELD had never really gone away, and she knew it had made him question what he was really building.

Enough that he began building something else.  Something SHIELD didn't know about.  All of _this_.

Still, it never ceased to amaze her when Coulson would throw yet another bit of caution to the wind.

They were talking about Amari, and Coulson was making a very convincing argument as to how every boy needs a dog.

When he said his father told him he couldn't have one until he was a year older, Skye knew something was up.

They were sitting out in the open air outside of the base, the crickets chirping in the warm summer night.

"My mother said he wanted it to be a surprise for my tenth birthday. Had his eye on a dog and everything," he said smile in his voice, looking past her in the darkness.

The rest of the story was, he turned ten and never saw his father again.

It made Skye so sad for him, and she knew he wasn't being self-pitying here, just thinking about the boy and how that dog was his family.

Amari had just turned ten two days ago.

She stretched out her hand and touched the top of his, lightly.  The dark made it feel safe to make such a comforting gesture.  Even in the dark, she could feel him getting shy, introspective.

"Will they let him keep the dog?" Coulson asked quietly.

"Probably not," she answered. "You know how strict they are about those kinds of things."

Skye provided a connection to Afterlife, to people like her. And while they always gave gifteds a choice, it was a relief to be able to send the ones who were afraid to someplace where they would feel safely hidden away from the world and learn to appreciate their powers.

"Maybe he should stay here with us for awhile?" he said after a moment, pulling at the grass next to his legs. "Just until he gets his footing. His gift seems fairly straightforward?"

"I'm right in the middle of training," she warned him.

The group that had wanted to stay and help them out. It was why he had built this. And always with her as a part of it.  A perfect fit.

"I know," he said. "We'll figure something out."

"Maybe you can show him all of Lola's mysteries?" she teased.

He huffed at her, flirty, appalled. "Lola's mysteries came much later, thank you."

"That's not what I meant," she retorted. "Your dad shared something special with you."

She stretched out on the grass and looked up at the stars. They seemed so close now.

"Seventeen."

She snorted a laugh. "In Lola?"

"Yeah," he said, laying back down on the grass next to her, following her gaze upwards.

 

#

  
"So what does T.H. stand for?" Coulson asked, as Amari wandered around his office, looking at the different items on the shelves, touching them when Coulson knew he thought he wasn't looking.

Whenever he did look up, Amari and T.H. both became very still. Like they'd been caught.

"I don't care if you touch things," Coulson said. "But, if you break it, you buy it."

Amari cracked a smile and T.H. started to wag his tail again.

"Tupelo Honey," he said, walking a bit closer to Coulson's desk. "My mom kept looking for a place that was quiet.  Where we could be a real family. You probably know why."

"Mmm," Coulson answered, reminded of his own father hiding out in a Wisconsin town.

"I'm not from here, am I?" he asked. "Are you?"

It took him off guard a bit. The strain must have shown in his face, because T.H. gave a little whimper.

"From all over," he said, standing up from his desk and walking around it to kneel so that the dog came up to him, licking his face, as he started to laugh.

"He thinks you're nice. Wierd, but nice."

"Your dog is very opinionated," Coulson said, patting the retriever on his head.

"We were already friends," he said. "He was a stray, but then that _thing_ happened, and now we're best friends."

"That's good," Coulson said. "It's nice to have people you can trust."

"Are my parents okay?"

He'd already asked it last night, half asleep while he and Skye had stood next to his bunk and talked to him until he'd drifted off.

"Yeah," Coulson said, looking down at the floor. His foster parents were in a safehouse and Koenig was creating new identities for them. "We're making sure that they'll be left alone."

"Bet they didn't think they'd get a weirdo like me, huh?"

"Amari," he said, pushing T.H.'s face away to avoid his tongue licking him while he talked. "You were worried about them first. And you protected your best friend from some really scary people. Pretty sure that makes you the right kind of weirdo in my book."

"Cool," the boy said, staring at his feet and looking away. "Where is Skye?"

T.H. started barking at the sound of her name.

" _Stop_ ," Amari said, like he was annoyed.

"Skye's training some of the..." Coulson jolted, as T.H. barked again.

The dog looked between the two of them, and let out one sharp bark at Amari.

"Jerk," he muttered.

Coulson furrowed his eyebrows. "Care to translate?"

"Not really," Amari said, sighing, tilting his head aside.

"Sky... _she_...," Coulson started, glancing at T.H. "Says that your gift lets you understand languages?"

"Yeah, I guess. Do you think so?" he asked excitedly. "I just wanted to talk to this loser," he said, glancing down at T.H.

T.H. raised his eyebrows but did little else.

"I might have some things for you to look at," Coulson offered. "We could try it.  But, I'll warn you, the pay is crap."

"Cool," Amari said, stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets.

  
#

  
"Are there people like me?" he asked. "In Afterlife?"

Skye was leaning over the desktop in the small room, watching him listening to audio feeds of...

She tapped on the keys and brought up the database.

"Hey, is Coulson is having you translate alien transmissions?" she asked.

"Yeah," he grinned. "I'm your new interpreter."

Amari looked confused as she gritted her teeth.

"I just want to know about where I come from," he said apologetically.

Pulling the chair next to him out, she sat down and and looked him over. His gorgeous round cheeks, his warm smile, that long neck.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's only people like us. And someone gave you a haircut."

"Mike," he answered, eyes looking up towards his own head.

"It looks nice," she said, ruffling the top of it. "Very proper."

"I wanted to look like I belong here," he said. "If I'm going to stay."

"You're going to stay?" she asked, smiling back at him, putting her elbow on the desk and propping her head against her hand.  "You haven't even been here a week."

"That's why I'm asking," he said, looking away. "If there are people like me there."

"All kinds," she said, sighing, thinking about her own time in Afterlife. "With different gifts and..."

"No, I mean, like this," he said, pushing up the sleeve of his t-shirt and putting his bare arm next to hers on the desk.

Skye took a breath, getting it. "Not many," she said.

"I was already different," he said, shrugging. "Before the change."

"You know what?" she said. "You'll always be different. That's the best part."

" _Ugh_ ," he groaned. "That's exactly what _he_ said. Why do you guys _always_ say the same thing?"

"Speaking _just_ for myself," she said, shaking her head. "There's only one Phil Coulson."

"All the guys have the same haircut!" he exclaimed, hopping up in his chair a bit. "Have you _never_ noticed that?"

"I've never had to think about it," she answered, sitting up straight. "But now that you mention it. Yes."

"See?!"

"You're right," she shrugged as he settled back down into his chair.  She looked around the room.

"Where's T.H.?"

  
#

  
Coulson had the dog in his office, sitting next to him in another chair while he was working.

"A meeting of the minds."

They both looked up at her at the same time, with a raised eyebrows.

"Let me guess, you can talk to him too, now?" Skye continued, crossing her arms.

"No," Coulson said, defensively, as T.H. hopped down off his chair and walked towards her, a smile on his face.

"Amari's our new interpreter?" she asked.

"Yeah," Coulson replied, pushing the top of his laptop down and standing.

"Because learning about his past from Kree transmissions is probably the best choice, ever."

"HYDRA agents tried to kill his foster parents," Coulson said, walking towards her. "I think he got the memo."

"I can tell, by the haircut."

Coulson sighed and stopped just in front of her.

"That wasn't my idea..."

"I know," she said, frustration seeping into her voice. "What exactly _is_ the idea?"

T.H. sat down, watching.

"You tell me," he said. "You had a similar experience, you know more than anyone what he's going through now."

"He's afraid that it's just temporary," she said, starting to pace. "The longer we make him think he can stay...we can't do that to him, Coulson."

"Why can't he stay?" he asked softly.

"He doesn't have any peers," she said. "And...what about when we leave for missions? He's just going to man the secret base with _Koenig_?  Play _Call of Duty_ for hours?"

"He's ten, Skye," Coulson said. "Not a baby."

"God, I know that," she said in frustration. "You didn't even tell me you were putting him to work," she said, jutting her hand out at him.

The corner of his mouth pulled up, but he held it in check.  "I could've shared that detail, you're right."

"Amari is _not_ an agent," Skye said, swiping her hand between them. 

"He's learning," Coulson said. "I wanted to give him a positive way to use his powers."

Skye rolled her eyes.

T.H. whimpered a little.

"You have to admit...," Coulson began, a little too cocky.

"Yes," she said, tilting her head at him. "He's really excited about it."

"So am I."

"This is why I wanted to wait until I had more free time."

"Andrew's been talking with him," Coulson said. "He's adjusting really well."  Then he stopped himself, gazing over at her. 

Skye took a breath and looked away from him.

"I'm sorry," he said.

He stepped to her and touched her arm, his fingers on her elbow. "I don't want you to miss out on it.  What do you need me to do?"

She let out her breath, biting her lower lip.

"Probably what you're already doing."

 

#

"Skye said that you have a son and that he's really cool and that he helped her on a mission once."

Mike stopped his internal check and focused his eyes on the boy, turning off his system attempting to analyze his rapid speech pattern.

"Ace," Mike said. "My son's name is Ace."

"Why isn't he here?" Amari asked him, sitting on top of the table in the armory.

"Because it's not safe," Mike said. "He's better off where people can't find him."

"My mom stayed away, too," Amari answered, looking excitedly at the rocket that popped up on Mike's arm. "And then one day she never came back."

"I'm sorry," Mike replied.

"You're going to see Ace again, though, right?"

Amari sat up straight, anticipating his answer.

"Eventually."

Mike looked away as the boy's shoulder's slumped.

"Is Ace like me?" Amari asked.

"Don't think so," Mike said, closing down the weapons system on his arm.  Everything in working order.

"Aww," Amari said, disappointed. "He's black though, right?"

Mike turned slowly towards the boy and tilted his head at him.

"Right," the kid said, pointing at him, hopping down off the table.

"He's not a machine, if that's what you're asking."

"You're not a machine," Amari said, annoyed.  "You're just a dad, with machine parts."

Mike stared back at the boy as he rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"Your hair's starting to grow out.  Might be time to clean up those edges."

"Skye said that I look like all the other guys around here," he blurted out.

"Did she now?" Mike said, a smile stretching slowly over his face.

"What if I don't look like everyone else?" the boy said, his eyes slowly pointing up towards Mike.

"Ace never wanted me to cut his hair, either," Mike shrugged.  "Only lets his mom do it."

"Nice," Amari said, getting excited. "I hope I get to meet him.   _Eventually_."

"Yeah," Mike said, looking at anything but Amari. 

 

#

 

"I think we need to have a talk," Amari said, following Coulson down the corridor of the base.

"Let's do that, but not right now," Coulson said, anxious. "We need to find Skye. That's important, right?"

"You're scared," Amari said. "Do you want me to help?"

Coulson stopped and quickly kneeled, put his hands on Amari's shoulders. ""I need you to find Koenig.  Hold down the fort. Okay?"

Amari got jittery, started to bounce up and down. "I don't want to play _Call of Duty_ , I want to help find Skye."

"Shit," Coulson muttered, as Amari's eyes went wide. "Don't tell Skye I did that."

"Won't," Amari answered, smiling. "T.H. can help find her.  We're a team.  You need us."

Coulson pursed his lips, frowning.

"He can smell her a mile away!" he added.

"Okay," Coulson said.  "But you're on coms and T.H. comes with me, right?"

Amari rolled his eyes. 

"This is your first mission," Coulson said, gripping his shoulders. "Do you want it, or not?"

"You're going to hook up T.H. with a coms feed, right?" he grinned.  "I'm in."

"Good," Coulson said, looking around nervously while standing and putting his hand against Amari's back as he lead him to the ready room.

"Koenig!" he yelled out. "I need Amari on coms."

Koenig's eyebrows went to his forehead and then he caught Coulson's expression. "Right."

"I mean it," Coulson said, staring back at him. "And we need T.H. set up on coms as well. Can you work that out?"

"Of course," Koenig chuckled. "Got it.   _Call of Duty_ , buddy!" he said, offering up his hand to high-five Amari.

"This is a mission," Amari said. "Not a game, and we need to find Skye."

"Cool," Koenig answered, shuffling Amari into a chair and quickly putting the earpiece on him.

"You're sure about this?" he asked, looking back at Coulson.

"Absolutely."

 

#

 

"Clear!"

"We're clear!"

"Mike," Coulson said, "Tell me what you see."

"Rubble sir," Mike said, scanning the HYDRA lab. "She brought the house down."

"Skye's tendencies," Hunter said over the coms.

Coulson was used to Hunter fretting over Skye and his comment was more about worry than taking a cheap shot.

If Skye took the whole building down, something horrific had happened here.

He swallowed and looked down at T.H. in his makeshift flack jacket and the coms setup in his ear.

"Find her," Coulson said.

T.H. moved forward slowly sniffing along the way through the rubble.

"Still got HYDRA in here!" Mike said over the coms as shots were fired. 

Coulson trained his gun along the perimeter, following the dog as he made his way through the shell of the building.

"Hunter, you good?" Coulson asked.

"So far. Lots of bodies, though.  Don't look like HYDRA.  They were definitely experimenting of gifteds, sir."

"Dammit," Coulson said under his breath.

"I heard that."

Coulson froze for a moment hearing Amari in his ear, then watched T.H. plod along methodically. 

"Ha," Hunter said. "You're in so much trouble."

T.H. started to bark, then ran.

"She's here!" Amari shouted over the coms.  "He found her!"

Coulson raced forward, trying to keep up with the dog.

He stopped when he saw it.  Something beneath their feet. It looked like a grave. Buried.

"No. _Skye_."

He went to his knees and started pulling away the remnants of the building, tossing them aside.

"Mike, I need you!" he shouted into the coms.

"On my way."

"She's there, right?" Amari asked over the coms.

"She's here," Hunter answered back. "Amari, I need you to help me find them, I'm a bit lost."

"Okay," he said, his voice shaking. "You turn left and then...Yes! go a bit further."

 

#

 

"It would've been nice if you hadn't let T.H. kiss me, like, for forever," she said, groaning, as Coulson set her shoulder.

"Sorry," he muttered, flexing his jaw.

"No offense," she said, looking down at the dog staring up at them.

T.H. wagged his tail, a bit reluctantly.

"I had to do it," she said, looking back at Coulson as he put things away, shoving them in and out of drawers in their infirmary. "There wasn't anyone left to save.  They just used it to experiment on their bodies...."

Coulson stopped, then put his arms gently around her, as she began to cry against him.

"I know. I know you had a good reason," he said, stroking her hair. "I'm so sorry."

"So, I did a good job of staying alive, right?" she said, after awhile, pushing her tears away from her face.

"Yes," he smiled, sighing at the sight of her, cupping her face in his hands. 

"You had T.H. there?" she asked quietly.

"He found you," Coulson said.

"And Amari was on coms the whole time?"

"Yeah," he said, letting go of her, looking at the floor. "I made a call."

She touched his face tenderly with her fingers, and he immediately sought her eyes again. "Thank you."

T.H. barked at them, making them turn towards him in unison.

"What is it, boy?" Coulson asked.

The dog wagged his tail and then looked over at Skye.

"I'm pretty sure he wants me to kiss you right now," Coulson said, dragging his eyes up to hers.

"Mmm."

"Amari told me T.H. thinks we're in love with each other."

He just shrugged at her innocently.

"Well," she said, touching the front of his flack jacket, "To be honest, I was thinking of kissing you first." 

"I think I like the idea of you kissing me," he said, leaning towards her with a smile. 

T.H. ran off to tell Amari all about it.

 

#

 

"You're excited about meeting Ace."

"Right, why wouldn't I be?"

They were all standing in the hangar, waiting for their guest to arrive.

"He needs someone to show him the ropes," Skye said, her hand on his shoulder. "You're an Agent, and Ace is coming from the outside."

"I got this," Amari said, standing up extra tall.

"I used to be on the outside," Skye smiled, then walked away.

He turned over his shoulder to see Coulson and Skye watching him.  T.H. sitting next to them.

Damn.

Amari took a breath and watched Ace walk towards him, Mike walking behind him.

"Hey," he said, stretching his hand out. 

Ace took it and shook back.

"Ace."

"Amari."

"Heard you got something to show me?"

He sounded a little too cocky.

But, whatever.

"Yeah, _"_  Amari smirked. _"_ And it's going to be _really cool_."  

 

 

 


End file.
